According to an article in the El Paso Times the other day, EPISD convened a group of high school students from all EPISD high schools to consider the current bond initiative. The Times wrote:
The students said programs and teachers were more important to them than school buildings, and they also supported creating pre-K-8 schools.
I guess that none of them are in the construction or real estate businesses.
We deserve better
Brutus
5 Comments | 
El Paso Independent School District, El Paso Times | 
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Posted by Brutus
Item one on the Thursday, July 28, 2016 special (very, very special) city council agenda reads:
INTRODUCTION OF ORDINANCE PURSUANT TO SECTION 3.9 OF THE EL PASO CITY CHARTER
Public comment typically is not taken during the first reading of ordinances. Public comments are invited at the date of the scheduled public hearing.
The item introduces the 2017 tax rate.
We deserve better
Brutus
6 Comments | City government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus
According to the El Paso Times the consulting firm that EPISD awarded their bond management consulting contract to has “walked away” from the bond project.
The Times article said the consulting firm “reviewed data on enrollment, facilities’ needs, capacity, programs and more. They then presented recommendations for school repairs, construction and closures to the EPISD Bond Advisory Committee over a few meetings.”
Now we learn that “EPISD refused to enter into a contract for the services”.
Where does that leave us? The facilities advisory committee has evidently been working with numbers that no one can be held responsible for.
Is a new study coming? The committee has already made recommendations that were evidently based on unpaid work done by the consulting company. Do they start over now?
What happened here? Is the district’s new finance chief responsible for derailing this contract? Does she have a favorite in mind like she seemed to when she was over at the city?
Or are we seeing the able hand of our new board president at work? Could it be that things are rotten in Denmark and that the plug needed to be pulled?
Is it time to re-start the bond process from the beginning?
We deserve better
Brutus
11 Comments | City government, El Paso Independent School District, El Paso Times | Permalink
Posted by Brutus
There has been a good deal of talk locally and nationally about the need to emphasize STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) in our local schools.
The new EPISD administration has suggested that the effort be expanded to include arts, making the acronym STEAM.
The changes being considered by the district’s facilities advisory committee don’t do much for STEM. They do include a possible $30 million for various fine arts, theater, and music production studios.
Noticeably absent is any potential bond money for the sciences.
Particularly troubling is the lack of any mention of replacing the district’s planetarium. The current one is housed in the district’s current central office complex and will be lost if the district is forced to move out by the landlord, our city government.
They don’t seem to be putting our money where their mouth is.
We deserve better
Brutus
9 Comments | City government, El Paso Independent School District | Permalink
Posted by Brutus
Why is it that no one down at the city is trying to help us with the multiple traffic messes we are enduring?
People are dying.
People are facing unbelievable daily delays in their commute.
Some will say that our city officials have no authority over state projects. That may be true, but our city officials do have a giant soapbox that they should use.
It appears that they did recently authorize the mayor to ask the state to lower the speed limit on I-10.
That is at least something.
Why don’t they ask the state to perform the construction in a less disruptive manner?
If you have an idea, bring it forward please.
We deserve better
Brutus
7 Comments | City government, State Government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus
elpasospeak 
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